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No Ramen, No Life, Say Itadakimas

I’ve been doing thorough research on great ramen shops prior to landing in Tokyo. Menya Musashi was on my list and I came here right after I checked into my Shinjuku hotel. WOW!! That’s all I kept saying throughout my meal. I slurping my ramen and eating ravenously, while uttering the same word over and over again – “WOW!!”The noodles were thick and perfectly cooked, the broth was amazing, and after trying out about 10 or so ramen places in Japan.

Black Ramen

True to its name, the soup is a deep dark color and has all of the flavors you would expect from a Japanese-style curry, without the gravy-like thickness.The ramen includes a slice of succulent pork, spinach stalks (at least they tasted like it), and some cabbage and corn drizzled with basalmic vinegar. The basalmic vinegar might sound a little odd, but I thought it tasted good with the vegetables and chicken, and went well with the flavor of the curry soup. It seems that no bowl of ramen in Japan would be complete with a poached egg, which beautifully contrasts with the dark colors in this bowl ramen.

Black Ramen

Black Ramen

Special Ramen

One of the first things that stand out about the special ramen is the soup — unlike the usual white tonkotsu (pork bone) stock, this version is a brownish combination of miso and tonkotsu that was very delicious. It also includes seasoned ground pork and fresh cabbage topped with a red spicy sauce, to go along with two pieces of roast pork and black garlic oil.Furthermore, Ippudo uses a thicker, softer, and curlier egg noodle than the white, thin and straight kind that normally goes into their and other Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen. I liked how well the thicker ramen noodle soaked up the soup. However, when you ask for kaedama (extra noodles), they give you the normal thin noodle with pad of butter on top. A little odd, but I still enjoyed trying both kinds with the soup (the thicker ones go better, though)

Special Ramen

By the way, if you happen to be interested in tsukemen (dipping noodles) and are unsure about how to eat it, Ippudo has posted an easy illustrated guide.

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Me

This blog is to help me understand what is going on in my life, because I find that until I share my experiences it is hard to make sense of them and what they mean to the bigger picture. When there's nowhere else to turn, your typewriter is there to listen without judgement, and just let you bleed.
Welcome to the inside of my head.